Rogue Trader 2015: Halcyon Rising

Thought of the Day:

The Halcyon Blade has made much progress is attracting items of particular worth, aswell as expensive resources they wish to rid themselves of, with a light cruiser to outfit and hungry for the ever present need for liquid resources the command staff aswell as the holder of the writ have decided to “Let some things go”

But the items they have are simply worth too much for simple transactions, requiring a power intermediary under safe conditions aswell as the sheer power of the buyers market, the Obsidian Emporial, an indipendant faction dedicated to the rallocation of absurd amounts of wealth and items deemed far too unique for standard sale.

This is where our adventurers decided to sell their items, including:

Mercys Fall Relic Glaive

Battalion of War Vehicles and materials

Location of the Black Sun System, containing two currently unexplored Eldar stations and a lightly explored Dead Eldar City

And for a time the Mercys Fall Chest Piece was also up for sale, only being retracted moments before the bids were offered.

All stratas of power attended the auction, of course this was to sell far more than their items, the items on display ranging from esoteric and bizarre trinkets to alien artifacts and weaponry from across the galaxy.

1X ‘Witch’ Lance, I am reliably informed this is not illicit cargo but I will ensure it remains out of sight of any officials, Lord.

Street Urchin: Footfall

Cameleoline cloak, damaged, stained with blood, confirmed it is not yours Lord.

Signed

Faenus Du Cressida

Brother of mine, again I have expunged much information within the reports of our staff, to ensure any spies aboard the Blade come away with very little, you may notice I have left the reference of this ‘Witch Lance’ intact, it will serve as a warning that the Arcadia Dynasty is not an easy opponent and are a resourceful lot, apparent to me and you but, well.

On the subject of Witches, Silence handed you this device, she obviously said nothing including the price, it seems relations with Druce Barathon has taken a bit of an Imperial turn, we may be the target of acquisition ourselves brother, we should use this to our advantage and hope he does not interfere with our endeavors too badly, having an Inquisitor on a first name basis is a good opportunity, even his first name is a thinly veiled reference to Saint Drusus.

Perhaps this is divine precedence.

Oh, you may have noticed our funding has been stretched somewhat, yes well it seems the merchants of this fair land charge extortionate amounts for materials and components, I have been stretching our finances, bribing the right officials, lubricating the social networks but you may experience some.. shortfalls.

And brother of mine, keep that lance handy for our resident Navigator, if he proves too disruptive to our needs.

Thought of the Day: Prayer cleanses the soul, but pain cleanses the body

The goodship Halcyon Blade and the towed hulk of the End of Days made port at footfall, it was time of success, a time to count the riches but our Lord-Captain had made plans, hatched schemes and wished for weapons that can unmake Daemons, so it was an obvious matter to see Druce Barathon, our resident under-cover Inquisitor before he left sight potentially forever.

A bargain was struck, our Lord-Captain had saved this Inquisitors life, rescued him from a warp-throttled, dying, reaver infested planet with cyclopean structures, a debt the Inquisitor was eager to settle, for no man of power likes being indebted, especially to another man of power.

“You will go to Gregors Temptation, you will speak these words: ‘I hereby require the Hellucin-Berry Cider House Special, the Writ of War with Infernus Sauce as my Main Course’ and Salvation Cluster Ploin Fruit for Dessert.’ Play your part, do not tip your hand that you are not infact of the Inquisition, and above all, enjoy the Ploint Fruit.”

And with a trade of rings the Lord-Captain took his Inner Council to find Gregors Temptation and gain weapons powerful from the Chalice in order to protect themselves against the Witch and the Daemon.

Aboard the vast, irregular asteroid-field strewn void station the explorers set forth to find this enigma, the gifted ring vibrating to signal to its wearer the location of Gregors Temptation, dodging the unwashed masses of civilians, murderers and howling narco-gangs on their quest, stopped near the moment of their success by a mountain of a man with clearly augmented biceps and 4 lackeys, for the Lord-Captain had gone incognito but was unable to alter his mannerisms, Casmirri couldn’t hide his twitchness and anybody who hides their forehead is always a suspicous kind.

The fight was short and the leader of the Narco’s lost his head, thanks to a melta-ring, their journey continued, ever guided by the device to an abandoned section, completely devoid of life, the large empty space only half walled off with plastek sheeting.

They stepped inside, the air changed, the interior wa smuch the same but a number of set-tables had appeared aswell as for all intents and purposes, a bar and servesman, who nodded down to a table, each of them named with a placard in illuminated high gothic script..

“The Siege of Terra” written upon their tables placard

“Dropsite Massacre of Istvaan V”
“The Burning of Prospero”
“The World of Murder”
“Schism of Mars”

A aura of forboding filled those with an inkling of what they mean, or was it a feeling of loss, either way the air was thick with the scent of cooking food, heady and pleasant, aswell as a chilled breeze, the strangest restaurant in the sector, no doubt.

The servesman stepped closer, ready to take their order, going over the unusual and one-of-a-kind items on the list, each explorer ordered food for it had been a long and tiring excursion, taking nearly a full day of climbing, walking and being pressed against the common citizens of Footfall.

The meals ordered, all but Gideons, for when he repeated the words ‘I hereby require the Hellucin-Berry Cider House Special, the Writ of War with Infernus Sauce as my Main Course’ and Salvation Cluster Ploin Fruit for Dessert.’ there was an immediate issue, the servesman, ever professional and proper advised our good Lord-Captain, they were ‘out’ of Salvation Cluster Ploin Fruit, he tried showing him the ring, he tried subtle persuasion but the servesman simply stated, they were out of Salvation Cluster Ploin Fruit.

Eventually he ordered something else and the mood changed, the meal was completed, and savored but something told the explorers that, something had gone wrong, they left empty handed, returned to their ship, defeated.

Alas, if only he had enforces his will, he would have the weapons he seeks, and more.

Thought of the Day: Burn the Heretic

Notes: Still requires censorship before adding to the Dynasties Librarium with command approval.

Ah, I remember when I was asked me to perform my main function aboard the Halcyon Blade, journey into the stars with my new Lord-Captain, under the tempting allure of high adventure, I was giddy as a new lover at the prospect of chronicling such a quest.

But enough about me, my Lord has many stories, one of them about the End of Days, no reader, not the end times, but a ship, now… it was a day like any other…

Lord Captain Arcadia had grown tired of waiting for his wounds to heal, he wanted to explore the hulked ship, the treasured contained in the hold would be worth the effort, at least this is what Navigator Prime Visscher kept telling the Lord-Captain, what bounties, what treasures! The gleam in both their eyes paled in comparison to the Lord-Captains brother Lucius Arcadia.

They all had faced many a travail to reach this point, but the word-bind contract between our Lord and that of the Barathon Dynasty was forged and it would be fulfilled, a deal brokered, everything within the ship is theirs but the ship, the ship is to be returned.

Our brave commander and his navigator journeyed with a C.Veche, Enginseer Secondus, this was to be their first meeting, alas Grymm Byrke proved distracted by the unknowable feat of towing such a vessel, much larger than the Halcyon Blade, tricky no doubt, but I digress, the commander also brought a single member of the S.A.S, the Arcadias elite, and a number of servitors under the thrall of Veche, the fellowship assembled they made landing upon the Spire of Navigators, this is where they begin the journey to fortune.

A Rogue Trader can smell profit, this much must be true for the Lord-Captain broke into the Barracks and Armories of the Navigator House in search for riches, finding a number of staggeringly complex and refined weapons, amongst them a Plasma Pistol and no less than ten hellguns, no doubt valued beyond counting, marked with a Giant Wolf, this is where Visscher proved his ability, naming these Artefacts of House Belisarius, a great house, with close ties to the Angels of Death themselves, the Space Wolves, no doubt explaining its quality.

With guile and Veche’s machine touch they gained entry into the inner sanctum of the Navigator Spire, with the mind of taking the knowledge within, but power was being diverted, supplying what could be described as a panic room, surely they jest for nobility does not cower, but still they found a great gilded and solid gate, immovable for within lays stasis, a place where time has no meaning, impregnable to all but Belisarius, unshaken the Lords continued their search, travelling to the cargo-bays, the clink of thrones ever ringing in their ears.

Boarding the rendered and blackened ship they delve into the great holds of this war ship, containing naught but misery within the holds, thousands upon thousands of the faithful, with no life-sustainers not even their great faith is enough to save them, amid the dead lay a smattering of the enemy, Reavers, the story of the dead would remain untold.

This is when our Lords met Rigg Clane, a lone survivor within the bowels of the Defiant-Class Light cruiser, amid the dead of both enemy and ally he challenged the Lords, daring to fire his weapons at them, but ever knowledgeable and wise he was not fired upon in turn, instead wisdom and charm wins the day, convincing this wayward armsmen that they are indeed, help, but it is he who rendered assistance most great, guiding my Lords to riches, to the Guardsmen Barracks, showering the Arcadia Dynasty with arms and war-vehicles, as any commander knows, equipment for an army is always the most expensive part.

Tanks, ordnance, chainblades, bolpistols, common for Rogue Traders but in the numbers aboard the End of Days a most useful commodity, happy with their success thus far our Lords continues onwards, but the ship revealed it still had fangs, upon what would later be found to be the Reclamation Bay, a place where the Mechanicus perform their art of resurrecting the dying to usefulhood, Servitorise them, give them purpose.

But at the time, unaware of the dangers our Lords continued their voyage through the ship, unfortunately Mannie, the brave S.A.S soul, was captured by the ensnaring devices of the mechanicus and was cut into with great precision and augmented with bionics, not even his newly acquired Hellgun could aid him but our brave Lords stopping the heartless device before it finished him off, leaving the ship to the sanctum that is Halcyon Blade.

The crew would later rescue the survivors, total of 50, mostly Mechanicus Engineseers and their Congregator, aswell as the ship Missionary Darrius Orphesiun, one of the Days commanders, his troope consisting of the ‘Red Hand’ a divergence of the Emperors Creed, but alas details of their cult is not within my grasp.

The salvaged ship sustained us, gave its food and water supplies to us so we may bring it home, home to Footfall and its master, a safe journey of two months warp-side, this Navigator proving once more his usefulness and skill.

Signed

Chronicler Epistor Pacheco

Brother of Mine, I have received this transmission from our Chronicler pending our approval, it lacks the finer details, thankfully.

I was most impressed with yours and Visscher’s interrogation of Missionary Darrius Orphesiun, the details he divulged and ‘didn’t divulged informing us greatly beyond what even my spies could muster, I will remember that line of inquiry for later.

No wonder none of us trusted this Druce Barathon, and why our new Flight Marshal despite being in Barathon employ has never heard of him, but an Inquisitor, I dearly wished you pressed him but understand why you did not, not to mention Silence, his Sister Sororitas wearing Victors power armour, must have compensated him admirably.

Does this mean we are salvaging the ship for our use and making a possible enemy of its previous owner, a Matriarch Aethyta Barathon I believe, because I could do with more responsibility within the Dynasty, and more firepower and it is such a fine vessel.

A strange fortnight, I had expected the Rogue Trader Druce Barathon to ask about his ship, it seems only natural to want what is yours back, I was also unsurprised when my Lord-Captain accepted with a potentially profitable arrangement, I could even have imagined Druce Barathon being as cold as he indeed was, what I did not expect was to actually find his ship, holed, burned but generally speaking, whole despite 3 Destroyers, a hard ship no doubt.

But that was only a minor point in the strange goings on my Lord.

The new ‘Navigator’ through blackmail has begun manipulating those in command, establishing itself within the Navigators tower, and using it for Emperor knows what, I do not care how effective he proves to be, he has locked himself away, it would take a concerted effort to remove this particular Tick.

I had expected all hands on deck and a salvage team to be sent over to the floating hulk of the light cruiser, this End of Days, Druce passively noting the crew call it ‘Calamity’ they seem to be largely correct as according to auspex and Harrai’s expert eye it is without power to almost the entire ship, without power and without life sustainers for over a month, a tomb no doubt, and still my Lord-Captain is worried about the number of possibly hostile voidsmen for the beleaguered ship, strange, I believe this system is making the Dynastic leader nervous, paranoid even.

I had received reports of missing personnel and minor bouts of violence in the decks below us, worryingly around the Labratorium and the Medicae red decks, but dismissed them as in light of this systems baleful effect on peoples temperament, believing in the Chief Bosun and Winter Seraphina River to settle the matter.

Unfortunately this proved unwise, the command staff were prepared to leave the ship and begin salvage operations my duty wouldn’t let me dismiss the reports, I decided to check with Solar Holt and inquire if he had divined any problems, he did not respond, what I found within that room was a ravening lunatic throwing up more blood than his body could possibly contain and screaming about skulls, wings and crimson, it took 5 armsmen to pin him down.

I later was informed about the Choir-Master has been specifically requested by Lord-Captain Gabriel, aswell as the S.A.S’s head of discipline Garret Baldie, I later learned Garret was gifted a melta-ring, and asked to depose of the Choir-Master, strange indeed.

Eventually my Lord-Captain took action against the growing threat building aboard the ship, joining in after Adjutant Varco Gearhart voxed about an armed conflict within the Laboratorium, dispatching all armsmen available and the S.A.S to stomp on the ‘mutiny’, I am used to uncaring masters but he seems distracted from his duty more than anything else.

The after action reports of my men are utterly unclear, somehow hostile boarded the ship, set up within the thrice-sealed Laboratorium and murdered everyone within it, according to some unhinged men who have been granted the Emperors mercy described the enemy daubing the surroundings with blood, both theirs, mechanicus and the blood of my men in strange patterns, I fear it was to invoke the warp and summon daemons aboard the Halycon Blade.

The Mechanicus aboard the ship relented to my men cleaning up the mess, Victor Victrix taking his holy instrument and burning the tainted things from our ship, for we were boarded, for the Daemon was indeed invoked and in turn banished by the Lord-Captain, Winter Seraphina River is missing, she is not among the dead, the last eye witnesses were a few armsmen, describing her square off against a daemon, they did not report who won the conflict, but she is gone and the Halcyon Blade is without her skill as a gunner, she will be missed.

Still after this event and given a week’s delay the Navy pilot Casmirri Orthesian saught out benediction and sanction from his old commander Druce Barathon, traversing across the void to the End of Days in an attempt to salvage lore and other worthies in a sense of duty, commendable, however his success seemed to drive him into the same paranoia that the Lord-Captain suffered from, and requested (and granted!) the use of Murder-Servitor to clear out some apparent defence-servitors, a clear act of aggression and a reckless act, confirmed by the destruction of the ships bridge and command structure, however despite this Druce Barathon has raised no formal complaint.

Thought of the Day: The ends always justify the means

Two weeks the Blade took to lick its wounds, bury it’s dead and recover from a hard and unexpected fight, After a meeting aboard the Bridge Solar Holt was informed to send a signal, to message Captain Gozer of the Starship: Swiftsure, Casmirri Orthesian pledged his loyalty to the Arcadia Dynasty to continue his duty to the God-Emperor and the Imperium of Man. Harrai Kimjaun’Ill confirming the signal received two weeks earlier to be unmistakably Mechanicus.

A plan was forged, plot a dangerous course into the Warp Storm, guided by the black-box data-prayer from Casmirri Orthesian’s unrecoverable Starhawk bomber, employ the skills of Esteban Visscher and trust in the Blades staff.

For the journey the crew prepared the Thunderhawk Gunship to the best of their ability, Grymm Byrke unusually requesting Casmirri Orthesian’s assistance, it seems the war-spirit of the ship is too unruly for the Mechanicus and the ship trusts Casmirri, or at least knows him well enough to listen, between the two the ship was prepared and launched towards the Storm-Planet, the multi-hewed and unnatural storms lighting their descent into madness.

The harrowing descent proved easy if completely bizzar with minor manifestations of the very stuff of chaos, the onboard auspex ghosting the impossible, below they find an impressive mountain made of metal, the signs and iconography of a Mechanicus Vessel clear despite the damage, a 35 kilometer trench carved behind it, the entire command and control tower missing from it’s hull.

Landing the Thunderhawk at a safe distance the Explorers set off towards this towering hulk, leaving behind all but one of the Special Arcadia Servicemen ( S.A.S ), the horizon dominated by the prismatic storms, the weather picking up with rain and gale, around them a war-zone, littered with bodies, wrecks of war-vehicles, crashed shuttles, destroyed drop-pods, a true invasion force in ruins, all of it Reaver and all of it wrecked.

Salvaging from this morass Casmirri Orthesian managed to find a working Centaur and made the job of trekking up a muddy mountain full of corpses that much easier, the huge rent on the flanks of the Starship: Explorator Y-01 Singularity exposing decks to the world, still untainted thanks to his weak-gellar field still in operation.

The corpses of Reaver joined with sevitor of every stripe, wonderful works of efficient art and the rare glimpse of what would later be known as a Clasarri, the Mechanicus version of Armsmen, void-borne Skitarii.

The Explorers delved deep into the hulk, heading for what they belived to be the centre of operations sans the Bridge, having to cut around sealed bulk-heads and travel through locked-down vents to get to their destination, poor Special Arcadia Servicemen ( S.A.S ) Sargeant Jenkins, newly promoted disappeared, leaving behind his flamer, his fate never to be known, eventually sounds of a gunfight echo through the once hallowed walls, the Explorers stumbling upon a Chiurgeon, trying to save anothers life, upon him noticing the Explorers, shot at the Lord-Captain, drawing and revving his chainsword, the indiviual dressed in red fatigues, covered in blood, flak armour and blast-goggled raised, mask covering his mouth to privide life-sustaining oxygen, Thael ‘Chief’ Torque putting a neat hole in his chest where his heart once was, killing him instantly.

The chamber exploding with hostiles, on the same deck and on higher gantries, Casmirri Orthesian using his Lathe Pattern Jump Pack to gain the advantage, a hulking well armored hostile walking around the corner casually, fore-arm mounted flamers and a large back-pack supply hosing the air with fire, Casmirri expertly dodging the blasts.

The battle raged between three parties, Reavers, the Explorers and an unknown third, once battle was done and the Explorers stood victoriously, after a hard-won and close fight the third party revealed itself in neat ordered firing lines, Provost Kurn interrogating them, the Clasarri survive.

After convincing Provost Kurn they are friendly, they are lead to Central Cogitation Templum Alpha where they meet Adjutant V, a none-typical and unimpressive tech-priest, with no Mechadendrites to speak of and biological hands, he has obviously held back from the typical cybernetic upgrades, Druce Barathon and Silence also in attendance.

After pleasantries it is revealed Adjutant V name is Varco Gearhart and according to Druce is a Heretek most foul, whilst Varco advises he is a true, loyal servant of the Mechanicus, each side giving their thoughts and opinions, the Explorers hold the only working Starship and any possibility for escape and thus are charged with a decision.

Hand Varco into Pompeii as a Heretek and reap the gratitude of the Lathes, instant wealth and a good reputation will be theirs.

Or

Cover up Varco and hide him from Pompeii and reap the bounties of the Silver Ship, a pre-Imperial vessel of Legend.

Their decision not yet made all were saved from the Explorator Y-01 Singularity and ferried with great skill and determination by Casmirri Orthesian himself, a meeting of all parties eventually leading to a choice, the Arcadia Dynasty is to hide Varco Gearhart for a price to the tacit disapproval but begrudging acceptance of Druce Barathon, the location and salvage of the Silver Ship, of which Varco has promised he knows where to find…. or will know as the cypher used to encode this information was stolen, infact that was why his ship was wrecked, betrayed by a as-yet unknown Rogue Trader.

Why doesnt Varco know the true name of this Rogue Trader and who can hide secrets from the Mechanicus,

The next discovery a strange Xeno platform, partially cut in a grey opalescent material, a keen screaming emanating from beyond your senses, wisely leaving it unexplored after an ominous energy build-up,.

Exploring multiple clouds throughout the system, one of which made of ice filling a vast region, but alas no sign of the mechanicus or anybody for that matter.

Weeks pass as they map, eventually gliding into range of an asteroid belt within the primary zone of the system, auspex reading indicating large magnetic fields from the rock as well as powerful radiological signatures.

This proved an excellent ambush point for the Chaos Reaver ship Pale Eye, launching a surprise assault upon the Halcyon Blade, landing hits with torpedo’s, manned with savage Reavers eager to plunder the Imperial Clipper, dead to rights they assumed.

The two void-ships began dueling within the treacherous asteroid belt, neither able to use speed to the advantage, the crew of the Blade fighting tooth and nail, the S.A.S engaging without quarter, Kerghan and Esteban Visscher joined the hunting party from the Pale Eye but used guile and strength to survive the boarding after all they have just come from the Reave rship.

Esteban challenged the Navigator Mia to a duel, tearing each others soul apart until only he stood, blackmailing the crew into taking him aboard as their Navigator. Khergan matching axes with the Warleader, a tall huntress who relishes in the taking of lives, trading powerful man-felling blows as Gabriel Gideon Pikkofule Arcadia LXIX defends his ship, shooting the Warleader in the back, thankfully Kerghan eviscerated his opponent and turned the hit-and-run attempt, potentially saving the ship and the Lord-Captain knows it.

Casmirri Orthesian out of options burning hard in his starhawk bomber, unlatched from the Reaver ship and crash landing in a cargo lander-bay aboard the Halcyon Blade, managing to convince the deck-hands he’s friendly, taking him to the bridge to the Lord-Captain.

A brief reprieve, the Pale Eye retreating, unable to afford battling the talented opponent, captained by a bully and not a warrior, they began to initiate repairs whilst tethered to a large asteroid, expecting the radiation and gravity-wells to protect them, they did not count of duplicity and the honour of those who were enslaved.

With the insight of Esteban, the reading from Casmirri’s ship and the instinct of Kerghan the enemy ship was located, ambushed by the Blade, disabled her engines and boarded her, a kill mission, successfully exterminating the captain, leaving the ship to burn out, the salvation pods used as target practice by the point defense gunnery-crews.

Unable to use the teleportarium for retrieval the explorers head to the personal landing bay of the dead Reaver captain, finding an icon of Imperial Dominance sitting in his bay, marred with runic symbols across it’s flank and it’s paint now debased was unmistakably a Thunderhawk, every child knew what these were.

And within half a day the ship had gone from hunted to hunter to victor, at this point the Blade received a message, static visual feed showing a silhouette, the audio crazed with distortion, and then it was gone, all indications it came from the planet, half hidden within the Storms.

Thought of the Day: Heresy Begets Retribution

Launch Date: 4432 809.M41: The grand Calixian noble families Pikkofule and Drogar merged after the year-long hidden war with Hereteks sect called ‘Mechashades’ with the assistance of the Inquisition itself, emerging victorious they were granted with uncharacteristic alacrity a Writ of Trade after the merger, the sudden bestowing of such a potent document unheard of, given by Marius Hax, Calixis Sector-Governor but created the Arcadia Dynasty.

Setting sail from the new Space Station Oblitus Locus orbiting Scintilla mere days after another Dynasty, the Barathon Dynasty maiden voyage, heading to the Rubicon II system, last stop to the Koronus Expanse, their Writ of Trade clear, find the veritable treasure trove of natural resources, a system called simply LV-2, somewhere in the vast endless space between nightmares and death in the Expanse, and exploit it for the imperium of man, a ludicrous requirement to any sane man.

Date: 4010 810.M41: Having arrived at the Rubicon II system and journeyed past the glittering comets to weight anchor at Port Wander to resupply and prepare for the Expanse the explorers learn of two pieces of intrigue, it seems there is a shortage of basic supplies, mainly food due to pirating and ‘shortages’, and stories of the ‘Conjunction’ a chance waning of the gravimetric forced between the Ruby Sisters, two huge gas-giants, the stories surrounding the temporarily accessible space awash with plunder and danger, an specifically the treasure trove ship ‘Terra in Excelcius’, filled with anything from a preserved Primarch to a working STC, but those that journey there tend not to come back, rumours of course….

Not letting the enticement of the ‘Conjunction’ pass them by they delve into the chaotic asteroid belt, remnants of a moon, passing an old abandoned miners station that loomed in the darkness, leaving a buoy behind. A strange and tiny Mechanicus Probe Ship, an old abandoned hulk once owned by the Fel Dynasty, complete with preserved corpse of a Rogue Trader and looted gear.

But they were not alone, a hunter of the Void, a Cobra-destroyer ‘Dark Portent’, sensing easy prey and clever use of mines descends upon the explorers ship, but thanks to accurate gunnery and outstanding discipline wreck and board the ship, executing the pirate-captain before his own command throne, calling in the Navy to claim one of their lost ships back, earning the gratitude of the fleet, the body of a pirate-captain Vaun Slite, an added bonus.
And finally, fate would have them discover the ‘Terra’ herself, boarding it with a select few armsmen they searched the ship, finding strange preservation pods and even stranger accounts, even signs of human life years ago, around the last Conjunction.

And they found death, living organisms that were breeding within the life-sustainers took all but one armsmen, the explorers fighting a hasty retreat through the ship, desperate to get to the Lighter, hurling themselves to safety in zero-G and blowing the organisms away, the Explorers ordering a Ordinatus-Strike on the ship, the only way to be sure, wiping the creatures and their potential profit away.

After this phyric victory the Arcadia Dynasty accepted employment to haul food, a vital commodity of great value to the slowly starving station, sailing to the edge of the system and voyaging to the first safe harbour within The Maw, the swirling dual-warp storm cutting the Koronus Expanse from the galaxy, the ‘Battlefields’ a place of lessons for new Captains, this place was rife with the shattered carcases of void-ships, picked clean by those who came before, and as the explorers found out a perfect ambush location.

They came upon a stricken transport ship, a ploy, a specially outfitted strike-team boarded the explorer’s ship and went about disabling her, a tactic only just failing as the valiant defence was headed by the command staff.

The foes mission failed as the unnamed transport ship, assumed an ally of the ‘Storm Troopers’ inexplicably exploded, the explorers detecting signs of another ship, a small but fast beast, slinking away into the black.

The explorers discovered the mission to get food was indeed a trap for those able to supply, making it a monopoly for the those in control… one Gilliam Mordechai, not a shred of solid proof of course, but the opening salvo of a feud.

But they returned, earning an invitation from the alliance of Mechanicus Exploration Fleet and the Navy Fleet by Acting-Commodore Ervard Pellew, of course they were expected to host this wonderful evening.

Gilliam Moderchai was also invited, and dined with the Explorers to the music of high Imperial and Navy traditional Orchestra. Played a high stakes game of Spaceship-chess and won against their erstwhile enemy Mordechai but lost to Janella, Lord-Admiral Karina Janella, master of the War-Trader Voyeur, but Lucius Pikkofule Arcadia the Seneshal and brother to Gabriel Gideon Pikkofule Arcadia soon found out that in the theatre of war, Janella has a habit of taking what she wants.

After a good party, several burn victims and the snubbing of a life the Explorers have earned the faith of the Imperial Navy leader as well as Errant-Fabricator Pompeii master of the Explorator Flotilla.

Having joined forces the Explorers journey into the, destined for Footfall, the station through the breach and the first step into the Koronus Expanse, a retched thing, full of the lost, the damned and the wealthy.

Date: 4099 810.M41: Exit the warp at footfall

Exiting warp and saying goodbye to their escorts the Halycon Blade docks with Footfall, setting about completing a map for the warp jumps they need to plot, investigating their leads, 3 last known locations of the Cruiser Explorator Y-01 ‘Singularity’, the advanced Mechanicus ship, promised to the explorers if they can retrieve Adjutant V, and return him to the Mechanicus, as anybody knows, Mechanicus ships are the most advanced found in the Void.

One lead led to Deep 6, a Kasballica front and flesh-Club, finding the deal set to them distasteful to their heightened morals and affront to their style they declined the information offered, the price too steep to consider.

Having prepared for the coming journey but lacking the warp lanes come across Samael ‘Nails’ Man-Hunter, who happily at a price hinted about a ‘Prophetess’, earning his reward and thankful for the generosity they set to find ‘Prophetess’ Attar Soloket.

Astropath Ascendant Solar Holt joined with them, Attar asking only for Solar, hours later emerging with a haunted look on his face, he knew the coordinates, and would assist Navigator Mia with the plotting.

And so the Halcyon Blade journeyed into the black, following the bread-crumbs exited warp in the middle of a nebula, a caustic gas cloud that eventually eats away at solid matter, no evidence here then of the Mechanicus Cruiser.

The next coordinate proved more interesting, a System with a Black Sun, casting its dim eldritch light over the system, incredibly dark for those with traditional sight, here then they found signs of life,

A huge planet, later named Mercy’s Fall, abundant with a vast array of life, tainted with a thin toxic atmosphere and possessing one macro continent with multiple inland seas, home to ancient Xeno’s ruins that begged investigation, around this Planet are two moons, the first a small dense moon with a stable but corrosive atmosphere, and signs of life, the other needing further investigation. Around this planet and it’s moons sat quiet in the night are Eldar Stations of some kind.

The rest of the system consisting of broken rocks, asteroid belts and a single Gas giant.

And so the Dynasty began looking for signs of the Explorator Cruiser, boarding the Xeno stations, tracking down faint energy readings from the planet, deep in the north of the planet, in an Ice forest and beneath the frozen glacier they found an excavation, Mechanicus in origin, below they found an ancient but unmistakably human building, after a skirmish with the local wildlife, inside they found some sort of advanced Cogitator, there they were gifted with miraculous technology and old star-coordinates, one of these matching their next destination, they had found signs of the Mechanicus ship, at last.

They investigated the Ruins, identifying them as Eldar in origin and sacked them for curious bone-white statues of lithe aliens, here Gideon was set upon by his own search party, assassins! Unfortunately for the wood-be assassins they were slain to a man, they were dressed as the SAS, the elite soldiers of the Halcyon Blade, leading to an inquiry, but Gideon knows his killer, Mordechai!

With one last investigation near a Mega-Volcano they found an abandoned Mechanicus watch-station, a modular base with no signs of life, but some old-encoded logs, this proved they were with Adjutant V, and hinted at their possible location.

And So the Arcadia Dynasty send their ship to the Lerange Point and prepared for warp, Solar Holt avidly taking the command staffs armour and scribing strange symbols upon them all, Hexagramatic wards, but for what reason?

They found out why….
The ship exited warp, too early, a sinking feeling filling it’s crew, the fore-portal on the bridge suddenly lighting up as macro-cannon fire eat away at the front of the ship, the deck shuddering more and more as they cut a swath through the ship, critically hitting the bridge, First Officer Ramirez uttering his last words as the entire bridge crew is slain….

… Then the ship exited warp, a sinking feeling filling it’s crew, the fore-portal on the bridge suddenly lighting up as mecro-cannon fire eat away at the front of the ship, the deck shuddering more and more as they cut a swath through the ship, forewarned of this impending doom Solar Holt threw the command staff behind the armoured portals of the bridge and begged them to prevent this, and he was no more, slain with most of the command crew, the Arcadia Dynasty nearly decapitated.

And so they journeyed through their ship, watching their crew slaughtered as giant monsters come out of the bulkheads, the portals, everywhere, watching ‘Bug Hunter’ sacrifice himself to slow them down, ‘Mali’ impaled upon a monsters forearm blade, they fled to the mustering deck, eager to exit their dying ship.

And so they fled, watching the grim sight of their ship being torn apart, eventually the hostile vessel, pointed, hateful arching around and ploughing into the Halcyon Blade, tearing it into two, the sheer horror magnifying at the sudden realisation of what that multi-hued tear in reality is, watching it devour their ship, the enemy ship and Emperor save them, their shuttle…

The Explores stood aboard a bridge, not their own but much larger, surrounded by Navy men, this was an Imperial Navy ship and the Captain, stood stock-still as he looked them over and their sudden arrival “Lord Captain, it’s you!”

Their First Officer, much older, bearing the uniform of an Admiral watched them, waving off the armsmen, the bizzare reunion not lasting long as the ships Auspex arrays and hololithic displays show them.. the apparent enemy, their ships silvered and sleek, smaller than the Grand Cruisers, the Cruisers and numbering less, the Explorers watching the battle carry on, call-signs of ships blinking out of existence and the red runes of hostiles undimmed.

They watched the enemy fleet lay waste to the Imperial fleet, then the world they were in orbit over slowly being wreathed in a circular flame, consuming it all in long moments, that world was Scintilla, the Capital of the Calixis Sector, Admiral Ramirez died with his ship.

And our explorers find themselves on solid ground, the hateful sky wounded, bruised even with multi-hued lightning, the epic structure before them hazy in the light, across it’s mega-structure bears the name ‘Y-01 Singularity’…

… And they were aboard the Halcyon Blade, final preparation almost complete for warp translation at the lerange point, the explorers in unison crying out ‘Abort!’, things were different, though they still in the Black Sun system, things were different.

Grymm Byrke was no longer a Servo-Skull, but their Prime Enginseer, intact, and he has always been like that…. only the explorers know the truth, things were different…